Near brackish and fresh ponds you can find a particularly large bird, similar in size to a burgomaster or a large sea gull. However, from these species it is distinguished by the color of plumage on the head and the ability to soar during flight. If you look closely, you can understand that this is a black-headed laughter. This species was on the verge of extinction and was listed in the Red Book of Russia, which is why it is important to know about its habitats, food and lifestyle.
Description of the species, how the laughter
The bird of the gull family is the largest representative of the species and it is easy to recognize by its velvety-shiny head in black. At the same time, narrow white stripes are visible above her eyes. Males reach an average of up to 2 kg, and females - up to 1.5 kg with a body length of 60 to 70 cm and a wingspan of 150-175 cm. Also, the body of the Laughing Laughs has a white color, and the back ashen. The beak is distinguished by a bright orange color and a black ligation at the base, and on the tip it is reddish.
However, such a description of the black-headed laughter of the blackhead is relevant only for adults, since young growth in the first three years of life looks completely different, and it is difficult to distinguish it from a silver gull. So, the head of the chicks and the upper part of their body are painted silver, and the feathers on the lower part of the body are white or creamy white with a buffy tint. Before taking its final form, the plumage changes several times.
Feathering stages:
- down dress;
- nesting outfit;
- first winter outfit;
- second winter outfit;
- second summer outfit;
- third winter and third summer outfits.
Changing his “outfits”, the black-headed laughter passes through numerous molting processes.
Where the black-headed laughter lives
Representatives of the order Charadriiformes predominantly settle along the coast of freshwater, brackish, salt lakes and sea bays, choosing sites protected from land predators with sparse grass cover. They mainly live in the arid, desert zone of Eurasia - from the Ciscaucasia and the Sea of Azov east to China, Cisbaikalia and Mongolia. You can also meet birds in Kazakhstan and on the islands near the Black Sea. On the territory of Russia, these beautiful gulls are most often found in the Volga River Delta, in the Caspian Sea basin, in the lower Terek, in the Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories, as well as in the Rostov Region. Birds also nest in the northern part of Crimea - on the Swan Islands and Sivash, and go for wintering in the southern and south-western parts of Asia.
It is worth noting that the black-headed laughter does not form a continuous range, since it is characterized by separate nesting settlements.
Lifestyle
Despite the fact that in many photos the black-headed laughter is depicted alone, still he lives in large, dense colonies, the number of which ranges from several tens to hundreds of individuals. Sometimes it occurs in mixed groups of other representatives of the species. In general, colonies remain only for one season, after which the young growth begins to roam, being hundreds of kilometers from the main habitat, and then completely leaves the territory for the wintering period and returns only in March-April of the following year.
Laughing dogs begin to breed from the 4th year of life and lay no more than three gray-blue eggs in the nest. Both males and females hatch them. It is noteworthy that the nests of these large birds are located near water bodies, so they can be destroyed during especially high tides. The fate of the chicks themselves is also sad, since they often become the prey of silver gulls. The mortality rate of young animals is 80%, because adult individuals do not always become good parents - cubs can be accidentally crushed or completely stop taking care of them. Cases of infanticide are also known. The grown up kids later gather in a kind of "kindergarten", where they are fed by large birds, not dividing into strangers and their own.
What eats
Like all gulls, the black-headed laughter does not dive, but collects black-headed fish on the banks or catches it in shallow water. Occasionally preys on small rodents, insects and chicks of waterfowl. If there is a shortage of food, birds can attack colonies of terns and smaller gulls, steal eggs from them, catch large beetles on the fly and pick up the catch of fishermen from nets. In search of food they overcome about 20 kilometers.
Interesting Facts
- Despite its name, laughter is a rather silent bird, and the sounds it makes are completely unlike laughter. Most likely, they are comparable to a dull roar or barking.
- The maximum life span of a blackhead laughing is about 16 years.
- Laughter is not only a large representative of the species, but also very fearful. Defending themselves, the seagulls line up and start yelling at the enemy. Sometimes they can attack saker falcons.
- Black-headed laughter in the Red Book of Russia is no longer listed - in just a few decades, its population has almost doubled.
It is worth noting that among many peoples the seagull symbolizes a yearning woman, is the heroine of fairy tales and traditions.